15 Facts About Howard Markel

1.

Howard Markel is a professor of psychiatry, health management and policy, history, and pediatrics and communicable diseases.

2.

Howard Markel was born in Detroit and grew up in Oak Park and Southfield, Michigan.

3.

Howard Markel then joined the University of Michigan faculty as a Professor of Pediatrics and Professor of the History of Medicine.

4.

Howard Markel's writing focuses on major topics and figures in the history of medicine.

5.

Howard Markel argues that the association of immigrants with infectious disease is a key component of that history, and that their stigmatization during 20th century American epidemics "reveal[s] much about our predispositions for dealing with the perpetual threat of contagious disease".

6.

From 2013 to 2017, Howard Markel was the editor-in-chief of the Milbank Quarterly, a peer-reviewed public health journal of population health and health policy.

7.

Howard Markel has contributed over 500 articles to scholarly publications and popular periodicals.

8.

From 2005 to 2006, Howard Markel served as a historical consultant on pandemic influenza preparedness planning for the United States Department of Defense.

9.

Howard Markel is best known for working with Martin Cetron at the US Centers for Disease Control and having co-developed the evidence base of the concept of "flattening the curve," a means of social distancing that saved millions of lives around the globe during the first wave of COVID-19.

10.

Howard Markel wrote a piece in The New York Times criticizing the Chinese government for their response to the COVID-19 pandemic.

11.

Howard Markel was named a Centennial Historian of the City of New York in 1998 for his role in advising and planning the New York City 100: Greater New York Centennial Celebration.

12.

Howard Markel was an inaugural fellow at the New York Public Library's Center for Scholars and Writers from 1999 to 2000.

13.

In 2008, in recognition of contributions made throughout his career to the fields of medicine and public health, Howard Markel was elected to the Institute of Medicine of the National Academies.

14.

In 2015, the Institute of Medicine was renamed the National Academy of Medicine, of which Dr Howard Markel is an elected member.

15.

In 2021, Howard Markel was named a 2022 Visiting Fellow of Clare Hall, University of Cambridge.